2014 OLA Jr A Season Preview

Do to some non-lacrosse stuff we are way behind on this but as they always say...better late than never!

Its a condensed version Season Preview

2014 might be the year where everything finally turns on its head and parity comes to the fore. Last year's Minto Champion, Whitby Warriors have lost a truckload and the Six Nations Arrows have also lost their fair share to graduation so could this leave the door open for the Bramptons of the league to sneak by?

Remember the last Excelsiors Ontario Title? It was 20 years ago. With a big trade to pick up Zach Herreweyers from the Lakers, the Maroon faithful are certainly hoping for an end to the drought.

Will they do it? We do not know. But LLB expects this to be a crazy and wide open year with at least five contenders....each with a glaring question mark to still answer.

Predicted Order of Finish
1- Six Nations
2- Brampton
3- Whitby
4- Peterborough
5- Burlington
6- Barrie
7- Orangeville
8- Beaches
9- KW
10- St. Catharines
11- Mississauga

1- Six Nations
Regular season Johnny P is great. Playoff Powless needs to seize control of a series and never let go.
New Staats not yet as good as the old Staats.
Alton has good stats but can he handle full time role?

2- Brampton
Zach Herreweyers was solid pickup to help their O but did he peak in 2012 or was he poorly utilized by Peterborough last year?
Can a team that takes a lot of penalties be a true title contender now?
An older team making the push in a wide open league and it will likely come down to untested goalie, Kevin Flanigan.

3- Whitby
Lost a lot to graduation but smartly have enough developed that should help them pull out some close games.
Reilly O'Connor still top 2 player in Jr A...which helps a lot.
Their Minto experience will bode well come playoff time.

4- Peterborough
Maybe we are drinking the Kool-Aid again but a team this talented eventually has to figure it out....right?
No matter where they finish (and they have widest possible range of expectations) they are always a tough team to beat in playoffs.
They have the talent but do they have discipline and goaltending to do it?

5- Burlington
Buchan in net is ready to step up as best goalie in the league so they will be tough to score on.
Loss of Corbett and Ruest srings...they need another player to go parabolic in scoring like Dan Lomas did last year.....those do not happen too often.
Do not think they will repeat last years great regular season record but also believe they are now better fit for playoff noise

6- Barrie
The best of the rest. Lots of talent up front but still shakey enough at back and in net.

7- Orangeville
No Sawyer for first time in years on the bench
Will be their usual gritty Northmen but this is a learning year for their youthful roster

8- Beaches
Flipped a coin between Beach boys and KW and may regret it with KW having better backend

9- KW
Lots of Cloutier and Jackson but Orleman in net will be key to playoff question.

10- St. Catharines
Will be better but still far from playoff contention

11- Mississauga
Rumours of two attempts to transfer the team being shot down at league meetings and departure of GM means another year of losses for the Tomahawks.

Playoffs
Watch for Nations, Brampton to be the favourites to make final. Both have enough question marks that Whitby, Burlington and Peterborough all have great chances to break through. We will go with Brampton as our preseason choice.

Lacrosse: Canada's First Game

We have been bantering around some random thoughts on the topic of improving Lacrosse for the better. Obviously everyone has their own "Big picture" ideas and realistically, very few of them will happen because this sport changes at a sub-glacial pace.

There has been an interesting discussion recently on the Unofficial OLA Fan Forum (the wild, wild west of Lacrosse fandom) about promoting the sport beyond the traditional communities (mostly caucasian and natives) in Ontario. You can follow everything here if you want to catch up to speed:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/333879/message/1394475214/Lacrosse+operators+.+You+need+to+see+this%21

Ron Messer is right. We don't do a bad job of marketing to new immigrant communities...we don't do the job AT ALL. The core GTA is one huge market in Canada and recent statistics show that more and more immigrants are settling in this area and yet we have failed to even attempt to bring them out to Lacrosse. It's not a failure of promotion, it is that we have not even tried...which is even worse.

I have a good friend who was born in Hong Kong but has lived in Canada since he was a toddler. I worked him hard to come watch a game. It took a few years but he finally relented and showed up to a Junior B game I was coaching. He even brought his oldest son. They both enjoyed the game and could see the merits of playing or being a fan. His son has not played and they have not been to a game since then but no sport is for "every person". The real key is what he said to me a few weeks after. When I asked what he thought he mentioned "All I saw were white people and no other races. The game is great but when you are new to a country you search out for some comfort in seeing people "like" you."

Here we are sitting with a marketing plan to a dwindling proportion of the populace (Toronto now over 50% non-caucasian). It is nice to have pie but over time our slice of the pie gets smaller and smaller all because we CHOOSE to limit our market. We CHOOSE to limit our growth. Maybe it is time we CHOOSE to make a change and be encouraging of participation from new Canadians to the greatest game of Canada.

So join us in this new movement. We've coined a new marketing slogan for the game "Lacrosse: Canada's First Game" to replace "The Fastest Game on Two Feet" which has been used for over 30 years now. If you speak another language, translate the new slogan and post it in the comments below or tweet it out with the hashtag #newlaxslogan. We will RT everyone who uses it.

The onus for promoting the game does not fall on the governing body, it falls on everyone who participates in the game. The goal is to have 3% of registrations from visible minorities by 2020. A few hundred more players means a few thousand more fans of the game.

Unofficial OLA Jr A Draft order

We've done some work tracking down traded picks and here is the unofficial draft order for the OLA Jr A Draft to be held later in January. With the player movement freeze lifted in the new year expect lots of movement heading into the draft.

We will do some work and hope to be able to bring you live draft action this year but negotiations have yet to fully begin so don't get too excited. Regardless, we will do our best to bring you all the draft results as fast as possible.

Round 1

1. Six Nations (from Mississauga via Burlington)

2. Whitby (from St. Catharines via Brampton)

3. Toronto

4. Brampton (from KW via Missy)

5. Barrie

6. Peterborough

7. Orangeville

8. Mississauga (from Brampton via Burlington and St. Catharines)

9. KW (from Burlington)

10. Burlington (from Whitby via St. Catharines)

11. St. Catharines (from Six Nations)

Round 2

12. Brampton (from Mississauga via Peterborough and St. Catharines)

13. Burlington (from St. Catharines)

14. Toronto

15. Mississauga (from KW via St. Catharines)

16. Barrie

17. St. Catharines (from Peterborough)

18. St. Catharines (from Orangeville via Mississauga and Six Nations)

19. KW (from Brampton via St. Catharines and Whitby)

20. Six Nations (from Burlington)

21. St. Catharines (from Whitby)

22. Six Nations

Ontario Junior A Final Preview

After a blitz of a season we end up with the top two teams in the regular season battling for a trip to New Westminster, BC and a shot at the Minto Cup. It's Whitby vs Six Nations just like we all predicted in the preseason (ok maybe not all of us)

Here are some keys to watch:

For the Arrows-
1- Can their defense/goaltending hold up?
After springing leaks against KW in the opening round, Six Nations tightened the screws on the Peterborough Lakers in round 2, holding Turner Evans and Co to 7 goals per game. Whitby's fast break presents a difficult task and the Arrows will need some big stops by Warren Hill and Don Alton.

2-Powless: The man, the myth...the legend?
In our season preview we wrote that Powless and Randy Staats would only be judged by how they fare in this series. Powless has been a force all playoffs long. For him to become a legend of the game, he needs to take over this series much like Jeremy Noble did for Orangeville in 2012.

For the Warriors-
1- The Buque Wall.
Alexis Buque was a deserving choice as best goaltender in 2013 and he needs to be every bit the best goalie for Whitby to win this series. If he outplays the Arrows duo, Whitby wins this series going away. If the Arrows goaltending can match Buque, then BC should prepare for the JP93 experience.

2- Been there, done that
The big guns of this Warriors team have been to two straight Minto Cups (admittedly as hosts in 2012) and will carry a sizeable advantage in big game experience because of it. If Whitby can keep their composure in the cauldron that is the ILA and steal an early road win, they have the know how to book a third Minto Cup berth.

Best guesstimate:
Do we go with the best player in Jr A (sorry BC guys like Wes Berg) in Johnny Powless or the experienced Warriors? Will the final matchup of Warren Hill and Alexis Buque (both 1992 born players who have battled since Tyke) be an epic battle or a one-sided mismatch? Have we spent our entire preview without mentioning Reilly O'Connor, Curtis Knight, Dan Lintner, Michael MacDonald, Josh Johnson, Vaughan Harris and Brendan Bomberry? (yes, all of them are excellent players in their own right and well worth the price of admission).
Our estimate is that this series will turn on Game 3's result. We'll take the experienced and on fire Warriors to win this in 6...warily. This is really too close to call.

Your 2013 Ontario Junior A All Stars and Award Winners

Congratulations to the below All Stars and Award winners. The selections below all had incredible years and were very deserving of being honoured.

First All Star Team
Goalie: Alexis Buque- Whitby Warriors
Def: Derek Searle- Burlington Chiefs
Def: Graeme Hossack- Whitby Warriors
Off: Johnny Powless- Six Nations Arrows
Off: Dhane Smith- KW Braves
Off: Turner Evans- Peterborough Lakers

Second All Star Team
Goalie: Doug Buchan- Burlington Chiefs
Def: Austin Divitcos- Orangeville Northmen
Def: Nick Weiss- Peterborough Lakers
Off: Curtis Knight- Whitby Warriors
Off: Randy Staats- Six Nations Arrows
Off: Rob Hellyer- Orangeville Northmen

Robert Melville Award (Lowest Goals Against Avg- Goalies)
Don Alton and Warren Hill- Six Nations Arrows

Bobby Allan Award (Scoring Leader)
Dhane Smith- KW Braves

Joe Nieuwendyk Award (Rookie)
Dallas Bridle- Orangeville Northmen

Gus McCauley Award (Defensive Player)
Derek Searle- Burlington Chiefs

Gaylord Powelss Award (Sportsmanlike)
Rob Hellyer- Orangeville Northmen

Jim Veltman Award (Outstanding Player)
Johnny Powless- Six Nations Arrows

Jim Bishop Award (Coaching Staff)
Barrie Lakeshores- Lindsay Sanderson, Jim Rankin, Nate Sanderson and Brandon Ree

Sanderson Memorial Award (Outstanding Goalie)
Alexis Buque- Whitby Warriors

Dennis McIntosh Award (Most Valuable Player)
Johnny Powless- Six Nations Arrows

ON Jr A Expanded Standings- Season Ending Edition

It was a quick turn around from the final games on Friday to the first playoff games on Sunday but here is the end of season Expanded Standings for the Ontario Jr A league.

Some Notes:

10 goals was the key to victory this year. Teams that held their opponent under 10 goals won 94 games out of 110, an astonishing 85% of games. Each team in the league won at least 1 game when holding the opponent under 10 goals...yes Mississauga's lone win qualified.

Six Nations was the only team to score 100 goals in a single period this season (101 in the second period). The next highest goals for in a period was Orangeville's 82 in first periods this year.

The KW Braves played 21 games this year. Well not really but their 6 overtime games is the equivalent of one extra game. They finished 0-5-1 in those overtime games.

A late scoring binge pushed the league to over 19 total goals per game this year (19.17 to be exact).

Six Nations, Whitby, Burlington and Brampton were a combined 56-0 when leading after the second period. The same four teams were 1-17-1 when trailing after the second period.

Now onto the final Expanded Standings for 2013

Team	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	Home	H GF	H GA	Away	A GF	A GA	OT
Six Nations Arrows	17	3	0	34	243	141	9-1	124	62	8-2	119	79	1-0
Whitby Warriors	15	5	0	30	223	147	9-1	121	67	6-4	102	80
Burlington Chiefs	14	5	1	29	225	176	8-2	134	86	6-3-1	91	90	1-0-1
Brampton Excelsiors	13	7	0	26	216	195	7-3	116	99	6-4	100	96
Orangeville Northmen	12	8	0	24	212	187	6-4	102	88	6-4	110	99	1-1
Peterborough Lakers	11	9	0	22	229	192	6-4	119	90	5-5	110	102
Barrie Lakeshores	10	10	0	20	186	191	5-5	97	93	5-5	89	98	3-0
KW Braves	7	12	1	15	184	190	2-7-1	84	89	5-5	100	101	0-5-1
Toronto Beaches	6	14	0	12	164	215	2-7	84	107	4-6	80	108
St. Catharines Athletics	3	17	0	6	113	209	1-9	61	105	2-8	52	104
Mississauga Tomahawks	1	19	0	2	114	266	0-10	61	120	1-9	53	146

Team	2 G or less	3G or more	v.500+=	v.500-	GF 1	GA 1	GF 2	GA 2	GF 3	GA 3	GF OT	GA OT
Six Nations Arrows	1-2	16-1	9-3	7-0	75	41	101	54	64	44	3	2
Whitby Warriors	2-3	13-2	8-3	7-1	71	44	79	58	73	45	0	0
Burlington Chiefs	3-1-1	11-4	7-5-1	6-0	72	52	79	64	71	59	3	1
Brampton Excelsiors	5-3	8-4	7-5	6-2	72	59	78	71	66	65	0	0
Orangeville Northmen	4-2	8-6	5-8	6-0	82	71	64	60	62	53	4	3
Peterborough Lakers	2-3	9-6	4-6	6-3	78	62	81	64	70	66	0	0
Barrie Lakeshores	5-3	5-7	3-9	6-1	52	71	79	59	49	59	6	2
KW Braves	2-5-1	5-7	2-7-1	5-3	60	70	72	66	48	42	4	12
Toronto Beaches	3-2	3-12	2-10	4-2	60	71	62	78	42	66	0	0
St. Catharines Athletics	0-2	3-15	1-12	2-4	38	73	36	84	39	52	0	0
Mississauga Tomahawks	1-2	0-17	0-15	1-4	37	83	36	109	41	74	0	0

Team	Ld 2L-L5	Ld 3+- L5	Tr 2L-L5	Tr 3+ -L5	T-L5	Ld 1st	Ld 2nd	Tr 1st	Tr 2nd	Opp >=10	Opp <10 td="">
Six Nations Arrows	1-1	15-0	0-2	0-1	1-1	12-1	17-0	1-2	0-2	2-2	15-1
Whitby Warriors	2-0	12-0	1-3	0-2	1-0	11-0	14-0	2-2	0-4	0-2	15-3
Burlington Chiefs	5-0	11-0	1-1-1	0-4	2-1	12-0	14-0	0-3-1	0-5-1	2-5	12-0-1
Brampton Excelsiors	5-1	10-0	0-2	0-3	2-2	11-1	11-0	0-4	1-6	3-7	10-0
Orangeville Northmen	7-1	5-0	0-1	0-6	2-2	9-1	9-1	2-6	1-7	2-8	10-0
Peterborough Lakers	2-1	10-0	0-4	0-7	0-1	8-1	10-2	0-6	0-7	2-8	9-1
Barrie Lakeshores	2-0	5-0	3-6	0-8	4-0	5-0	7-0	4-8	1-9	3-9	7-1
KW Braves	2-2-1	5-0	0-4	0-6	0-5	4-2-1	7-0-1	1-8	0-9	1-9	6-3-1
Toronto Beaches	3-0	4-0	1-3	0-11	1-1	3-3	5-1	2-9	1-12	0-11	6-3
St. Catharines Athletics	1-0	3-0	0-3	0-15	0-0	2-1	3-1	1-14	0-16	0-12	3-5
Mississauga Tomahawks	1-0	0-0	0-2	0-16	0-0	0-3	0-0	0-15	1-19	0-17	1-2

LLB's Quick 2013 Playoff Preview

Here is our no muss, no fuss first round playoff preview for the Ontario Jr A league.

#1 Six Nations Arrows vs #8 KW Braves

Expect lots of goals with Dhane Smith (KW) and Johnny Powless (Six Nations) in this series. They finished 1-2 in scoring this season with Smith also leading the league in goals with 61.

For KW:
Can KW get any scoring beyond their big 3 players? Can Kyle Jackson rebound from a sub-par year to be the dynamic goal scorer he was in 2012? These two questions will go a long way to answering whether the Braves can sneak a victory out of this series.
For Six Nations:
How long will Randy Staats be out of the lineup? Are Josh Johnson and and Brendan Bomberry truly ready to assume more of the scoring load for the Arrows? Against the Braves we will just start finding out about the boys in Orange but we think a positive answer to the second question will be more important for Six Nations' Minto travel plans during the playoffs. (not to discount the impact that a healthy Randy Staats can have to the Arrows)

Best guess result: Arrows in 3 games but all relatively close because of KW's Big 3.

#2 Whitby Warriors vs #7 Barrie Lakeshores

These two teams gave you the opposite sides of the story "A Tale of Two Seasons". Barrie started fast and ultimately settled down into 7th spot by the end of the season. Whitby started slow and then kept winning and winning their way to second place.

For Barrie
Will Whitlow, Craig and Murphy find any room against the suffocating Warriors defense? How will the Lakeshores handle their first playoff action in a few years? Barrie is young and hungry but this may have been the worst possible matchup for them in the ultra-experienced Warriors.
For Whitby
After winning their final 8 games, will Whitby underestimate the gritty Lakeshores? Is O'Connor to Lintner the best high-low pairing in Jr A Lacrosse? The depth and speed game of Whitby gives plenty of teams trouble and look for it to also bother Barrie.

Best Guess result: A testy series but we will take the tested Warriors in a sweep over the kiddie corps in Barrie.

#3 Burlington Chiefs vs #6 Peterborough Lakers

Hands up those of you that thought at the start of the season this could be a playoff matchup AND Peterborough would be the 6 seed? As expected, not many hands up. However it is what we got and what a series to look forward to and our pick as most compelling first round series.

For Peterborough
Do they have the horses beyond Turner Evans to score enough goals on the road? Will the playoffs be the beginning of a run or the merciful end to an indifferent season? The Lakers need to control the tempo and slow down the speedy Chiefs in order to have a chance. If they can do it and muck up the game a bit then this becomes a real chess match and it helps to have one of the top 5 players in the league (Evans) on your side.
For Burlington
How long will Bryan Cole be out? Can the Chiefs dictate tempo on the road like they do at home? Cole is a key transition player for Burlington and in their final game of the season he was ejected with a Match Penalty. The longer he is out the more difficult it will be for the Chiefs to push the pace. Burlington finished 8-2 at home this season and scored at will vs the slow it down Lakers in two regular season games.


Best guess result: Peterborough slows down the Chiefs at times but cannot do it full time and Burlington runs to a 4 game victory.

#4 Brampton Excelsiors vs #5 Orangeville Northmen

This is the series that both teams wanted and they got it. This has all the hallmarks of the roughest and nastiest series with plenty of animosity built up over the past 4 years.

For Orangeville
Who will provide scoring beyond Rob Hellyer? Is Mike Fournier ready to assume the title as "Northmen Starting Goalie"? Beyond Rob Hellyer, the Northmen have a bevy of solid players but no one that can take over a game when it matters most. They will need inspired performances from the secondary players to have a chance. Fournier will also need to make key saves against the high powered Excelsiors... Orangeville has had a run of really strong goaltending but does it end in 2013?
For Brampton
How healthy is Shane MacDonald? Can anyone survive after playing in the two hottest arenas in Lacrosse? The health of MacDonald will be a real key for the Excelsiors. He played the final 4 games but had minimal impact on the score sheet. Brampton needs him to be near 100% to become truly dangerous on offense. Also if you a fan of either team, bring a fan to the games. You will thank us later.


Best guess result: The Bunny Barn ghosts scare up a Northmen victory in Game 2 but Brampton's offense proves too much and lead them to a 4 game series win.